Resolve Doc Gerry murder, now!

A
year has passed since the heinous act of murdering broadcaster Dr. Gerry “Doc
Gerry” Ortega but the case against the suspected brains remains unresolved.

By
the rate and quality the DOJ performs its job the National Press Club sees more
delays that will exceedingly disgust the conscience of the Liberty of the
Press, of the journalists, of the people of Palawan, of the family of the
victim, and of justice.

Already,
the number of the press men killed has risen to 12 under the administration of
President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.

The
last of those murdered, broadcaster and Tatak
Bigtime News publisher Christopher Guarin, was killed in General Santos
City last January 5 or 44 days after another journalist, Alfredo “Dodong”
Velarde Jr of Brigada News Philippines,
was slain on November 11 in the same city.

What
is good in Doc Gerry’s case is that the gunman was arrested immediately after the
shooting incident for it accidentally happened that the fireman driving a
firetruck was passing by an “ukay-ukay”
store in Puerto Princesa City where the killing occurred on January 24, 2011. But what is bad is the same as in all other
cases of slaying: the brains have remained unpunished and unidentified.

Last
June, the National Press Club expressed strong dissent about the resolution rendered
by a panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) where it absolved big
suspects in the persons of former govorners Joel T. Reyes of Palawan and Jose
Antonio Carreon of Marinduque, of former Palawan administrator Romeo
Serratubias, and of Mayor Mario Reyes of the town of Coron in Palawan.

In
the press statement released by the NPC on June 15, 2011, it expressed its
sentiment that the DOJ panel arrogated unto itself the discretion that belongs
to the court—the reason killing of journalists never sleeps.

The DOJ unreasonably absolved the
suspected brains despite the fact they were positively identified by the persons
who confessed to have arranged for the killing: Rodolfo Edrad Jr. alias “Jun
Bomar” who was the close aide of ex-governor Carreon, Armando Noel, Dennis
Aranas and Arwin Arandia.

The confession was not admitted by
the DOJ as a justification to charge the brains as principals by inducement,
insisting there was no other evidence of conspiracy other than the confession
of Bumar.

The Club pointed out that the job of
the DOJ is only to determine whether there is sufficient probability that the
ex-governors and others are likely the masterminds behind the murder of
radioman Doctor Jerry Ortega last January 24 in Puerto Princesa City.

It is the job of the court to
determine in the full-blown trial whether the confessions can be accepted or
not or whether there are evidence that are independent of the confessions to
prove first conspiracy.

The NPC insisted then that in determining
probability or “probable cause” in legal parlance, the DOJ has no power to
absolve. Its power is only to say whether there is sufficient probability to
warrant a sacrifice of the presumption of innocence of those being charged to
ensure that those charged are not unduly prejudiced by the warrant, detention,
trial, and attorney’s fees.

The DOJ panel that absolved the
respondents was composed of Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edwin Dayog,
Assistant State Prosecutor Bryan Jacinto Cacha and Atty. John Benedict Medina.

The evidence presented by the police
investigators to the National Press Club are sufficient to say that the
suspected brains are likely guilty.

First, there is this extrajudicial
confession of Rodolfo “Jun Bomar” Edrad Jr. as the aide of the former
Marinduque governor.

Edrad confessed he was asked by
ex-governor Reyes and ex-governor Carreon to plot the murder of Ortega by using
hired guns from Quezon province because using triggermen known in Palawan is
risky to discovery.

Edrad said he took in Armando Noel,
Dennis Aranas, Arwin Arandia and the gunman identified as Marlon Recamata
Dichaves.

He also said he procured a gun right
in Puerto Princesa because it was too risky to bring a gun on the plane to the
city.

Edrad said he contacted Arturo
Regalado and Percival Lecias who were close aides of former governor Reyes to
procure for him a gun.

Second, there is
also this testimony of Regalado that said he was contacted to by Edrad to procure
the gun and that he secured the gun from Atty. Serratubias and this testimony
is an evidence of conspiracy separate or independent from the testimony of
Edrad.

Regalado said Edrad sent him money
for the buying of the gun through a remittance agency and there are receipts
showing the remittances to buy gun and “for the boys.”

Third, there is
this defense of Serratubias that the gun was his but that it was bought from
him. To prove the fact of sale, Serratubias presented a yellow paper showing it
is an acknowledgment receipt of payment for the gun.

Serratubias did not present any
notarized deed of absolute sale of the gun that was licensed to him.

The yellow paper receipt, the
admission that the gun belonged to him and the lack of notarized deed of
absolute sale are all separate and independent pieces of evidence of
involvement of Serratubias in the conspiracy to kill Ortega.

This is because it is unthinkable
that a lawyer will not secure a sale with a deed of absolute sale that is
notarized.

The fact that Serratubias was too
close to ex-governor Reyes because the lawyer was Reyes’ provincial
administrator during his terms as governor of Palawan also constitutes a
separate piece of evidence proving him as the “missing link” between Edrad and
Reyes.

The evidence of closeness is a
separate evidence of conspiracy.

Fourth, there is
also this proof showing the two ex-governors are close buddies in business and
leisure.

Carreon is the contractor of all
Palawan projects funded by funds out of Malampaya natural gas operations.

He and Reyes are often seen in
casinos as buddies.

The projects are distributed to all
towns of Palawan, including the reclamation port area of the town of Coron
where Mario Reyes is the incumbent third-termer mayor.

Fifth, there is
also this proof consisting of a CCTV video footage taken a couple of days
before the shooting of Ortega occurred.

This video shows Dichavez waiting
for the arrival of Ortega for three hours, shows him making six attempts to
cross the road and finally crossing over the street where the “ukay-ukay” store
was because Ortega went inside that store to buy clothes immediately after
arriving from his morning radio program, and shows Dichavez emerging out of the
“ukay-ukay” store and running on the road away from the crime scene, shows the
passing fire truck making a chase for Dichavez.

This video footage makes up for the
proof that there was no reasonable doubt that Dichavez was the one who actually
shot Ortega dead.

Sixth, there is
also this proof that the fireman who was driving the firetruck saw Dichavez
throwing the gun on a garbage container and that the fireman recovered the gun
whose make and serial number point to Serratubias as the owner.

This is another independent piece of
evidence showing the complicity of Serratubias to the conspiracy to murder
Ortega.

For instance, it was unlikely that a
gunman who was escaping would throw away the only weapon that he would use in
defense, unless there was an earlier plan or plot to throw it away to avoid
discovery that it belonged to Serratubias.

Seventh, the
proof that Dichavez came from a town in Quezon province where Edrad was a
resident constitutes an independent proof to support the theory of the close
connection between them and the others.

Eighth, the
proof that Dichavez, Noel, Aranas and Arandia were together in going to Puerto
Princesa as shown by a CCTV video focusing on the exit gate of the Puerto
Princesa International Airport.

This constitutes a distinct and
separate evidence of conspiracy among them.

Ninth, the
broadcasts of Ortega show that the main subject of his criticisms is
ex-governor Reyes on the mining permits issued with the intercession of the
provincial government and on the funds shared to Palawan out of the revenue
from the utilization of Malampaya natural gas field.

This is a separate piece of evidence
of motive of hate by the ex-governor against Ortega.

Tenth, other
evidence separate and distinct from the extrajudicial confession of Edrad were
also presented.

A look at these pieces of evidence,
the NPC strongly insists that the DOJ is wrong in absolving the suspected
brains.

Specifically, it erred in stating
that aside from the extrajudicial confession there was no other piece of
evidence separate and distinct to prove “sufficient probability” that
ex-governors Reyes and Carreon and Atty. Serratubias were the brains behind the
murder of Ortega.

To repeat, the issue here is only
probability, not proof of reasonable doubt.

So that the prudent thing to do
should be to approve the indictment of the ex-governors and the lawyer and let
the full-blown trial begin and let the Court decide.

There could have been no suspicion
if those who were placed as investigators are the people’s representatives
acting as an inquest jury under the Grand Jury System.

The system of prosecutors being the
one deciding who should be accused has long been abused using “probable cause”
in the manner they wished.

As proven by the performances of the
prosecutors deciding who should be charged, the acts of killing journalists
will never stop.

This is the reason that the NPC is supporting
the proposal to establish the jury system in place of the present rotten
mechanism abused for more than a century by lords of politics, drugs, sex and
gambling.

RESOLVE NOW the motion for
reconsideration filed by the family of Doc Gerry.